2012 TrackChaser Report #34--Kingsdale VFD Motorsports Arena, PA

TrackChasers: On Saturday Pam and I headed to the Kingsdale Volunteer Fire Department Motor-Sports Arena in Littlestown, PA. This was the second race at the

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, Jun 5, 2012

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TrackChasers:

On Saturday Pam and I headed to the Kingsdale Volunteer Fire Department Motor-Sports Arena in Littlestown, PA. This was the second race at the track, and is under the direction of Loud Pedal Events. This group was formed last season and ran the similar events at Arcadia, MD. For this year, Arcadia is apparently doing their own events, and Loud Pedal moved across the border into Pennsylvania, giving birth to a new speedway.

This was the second race of the series, dubbed the "PA State Short Track Series 2012". The series has five events, and the car races are dubbed "full contact" racing. There are three classes, Four Cylinder, Six Cylinder, and Outlaw (also called Heavy). At the opener, there were not enough cars and the Six Cylinder and Outlaw classes were combined. This time, the car counts were up, with 16 Four Cylinders, 7 Six Cylinders, and 7 Outlaws. Not too bad for only their second race ever. There were also two classes of lawn mower racing.

Admission was $10 and we arrived about 3:00 for the 4:00 p.m. show after stopping in Kutztown at Renninger's Market in the morning and at Mark's Sandwich Shop for lunch, an old college haunt for both Pam and I. Already in attendance was Rick The Champ" Schneider. Soon Gaerte-Gordy Killian rolled in with his hot Camaro. Mike Knappenberger and Jeff Sands joined the group of TrackChasing friends before race time. Will White was on the original lineup card, but was a late scratch. We were hoping Bruce Eckel, with 99 PA tracks, could make it so we could celebrate his 100th in the state, but he and Pat already had plans.

The dirt oval had two tracks, an outer oval for the cars and an inner oval for the lawn mowers. There were no seats, but there were hillsides on either side of the track for lawn chairs or blankets. Pam and I set up our chairs on the backstretch and got ready for the races. There was a good public address system and a pretty good announcer. The format for the races was features-only, run in three timed segments. Each segment was ten minutes, separated by the lawn mower races. The starts were "gold rush" style, with all the cars lined up side by side and when the green flag flies they race to enter the track. It was pretty wild with the 16 abreast start of the first segment of the Four Cylinders.

They started about 15 or 20 minutes late with the Six Cylinders. The track was too dusty, so they put some water down before continuing which worked very well. This is contact racing, but it is not a demo derby. Most of the time the drivers were racing and not banging, as it should be. After the three, first-segment races for the cars, they had two mower races on the inner track. There were four and three in the mower classes. After the first set of races, I headed to the refreshment stand and tried the ham sandwich and fries, which were OK but nothing special.

When we bought our tickets, I asked how long the show would last, and they said until around 9:00. Five hours seemed like a long time, and I think the segments should be shorter than ten minutes. However, at the first race they were 13 minutes so they have already made an adjustment in the right direction. It didn't seem like there was a lot of down time, and it was a nice relaxing Saturday afternoon and evening watching the junk car racing. With the early start, it would be possible to watch part of the show and still make an evening track in the central PA area. The track is only about ten miles from Trailway. Mike and Jeff watched all the classes race, then headed for Lincoln. Pam and I did not go to another track, but we stopped for ice cream on Route 15 and clearly heard the Super Sportsman from Williams Grove.

On Sunday we headed to Trenton, NJ for another minor league baseball game, this time the Trenton Thunder. On the way we passed the site of the old Flemington Fairgrounds, and it was depressing to see no sign of the fairgrounds anymore. I had been to see the Thunder with my friend Brad, but Pam had not been there. Great food at that ballpark, with a Chickie and Pete's at the stadium. Both Pam and I have now been to all the race tracks and have seen all the minor league ball teams in the state of New Jersey, so we are finished with that state for awhile.

On the way home, we met up with Pam's brother and stopped to see their dad, who is in the hospital. We were home in time to see the season premiere of Ice Road Truckers, and get to bed before the start of another work week.